Preceded By

Followed By

Contents

The Tuchanq, a newly discovered humanoid species, can be an important ally for the Earth Alliance commanded by President Morgan Clark. So Captain John Sheridan welcomes their ambassador to Babylon 5, not knowing that among them is D'arc - a mass murderer on the run hoping to escape into the unsuspecting worlds of the galaxy.

CLARK'S LAW

But the unforgiving rules of space have a different fate in store for D'arc. A terrifying accident wipes away D'arc's identity and his evil...leaving behind a loving, innocent being with child's mind-a being that must die because President Clark, a leader with his own secret agenda, orders his immidiate execition. Now, as Babylon 5 physician Dr. Stephen Franklin begs Sheridan to defy Clark's law, the captain faces the greatest test of his command-and a far greater test of his manhood, which may end his career in shame or become a shining reminder of what being human truly means...

In 2242, the DSEV Amundsen became the first human ship to encounter the Minbari. Its captain, Ellasai Ferdinand VI, panicked and ordered his crew to open fire, destroying the ship. Called in to testify, Ferdinand lied and claimed that the Minbari had opened fire on the Amundsen, and thus he had acted in self-defense. This lie led directly to the Earth-Minbari War.

Two months earlier and uncounted light-years away, Narn Fleet Commander G'Kar ordered the orbital bombardment of the Tuchanq Capital City, killing millions of civilians. Two days later, he landed and announced to the locals that Tuchanq had been attacked by the Centauri, and that their own hope in avoiding an invasion lay in becoming part of the Narn Regime. And thus began a brutal occupation that would last nearly 2 decades.

In 2258, Earth President Morgan Clark, hoping to begin a radical overhaul of the Earth Alliance that would keep Earth relevant in the face of growing calls for independence on the colony worlds, began pushing for re-instatement of the death penalty for murder. Hoping to allay fears that the death penalty would be used disproportionately against aliens, Clark insisted that it would be applied equally to all who were found guilty of premeditated murder.